‘Lion-tiger conflict in Kuno can’t be ruled out’ ~ AHMEDABAD: Will Gir lions shifted to Kuno-Palpur sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh come into conflict with tigers that may have strayed from Ranthambore reserve in Rajasthan? For the first time, an NGO, Wildlife Conservation Trust-Rajkot, has joined as a party to the petition filed by the Rajasthan government claiming that there is a possibility of conflict between the two big cats because a natural movement corridor exists between Kuno and Ranthambore. The NGO had filed a petition earlier in the apex court against translocation of lions to Kuno-Palpur.

Citing reports that the male tiger, T-38, from Ramthambore had been found moving between the tiger reserve in Rajasthan and Kuno-Palpur, the petitioner, in an amendment to its petition moved on Monday, has claimed that “the court was never informed about the contiguity which the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve enjoys with Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.”

In its amended petition, the NGO says that Kuno lacks in prey base. Further, given its proximity to Ranthambore, introduction of lions in Kuno could have a severe impact on the population of tigers as lions can travel in search of food to Ramthambore.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory authority under the Centre, seems to support the NGOs’ argument. In its report titled, ‘State of Tigers, Co-predators and prey in India-2008’, the NTCA supports the stand of Gujarat that Kuno-Palpur is a tiger-occupied area close to other tiger habitats including Ranthambhore. Further, as the proposed site for translocation of lions from Gir is close to the tiger areas, tigers keep frequenting the Kuno-Palpur sanctuary.

The NTCA report recommends that the potential habitat connectivity between Ranthambhore, Kuno-Palpur and reserve forests of MP’s Sheopur district be improved “to form a viable arid zone westernmost Tiger Conservation Unit in India.” The recommendations of the NTCA are legally binding under Section 38-V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act-1972, the NGO has submitted in its amended petition.

Movement of predators

In its order dated April 15, 2013, a division bench of the Supreme Court had dealt with the issue of co-existence of the tiger and lion. The bench had taken note of the fact that Dr. Asad Rehmani, director, Bombay Natural History Society and a member of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) had pointed out that presence of the tiger in Kuno was in no case detrimental to the re-introduction of lions.

Another member of the standing committee, Dr Divyabhanusinh Chavda, had also emphasized the need to create a second home for lions. However, the court had not taken into account the possibility of reverse movement of lions from Kuno to Ranthambore. Earlier, the Rajkot trust had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the translocation of Gir lions to Kuno-Palpur sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. But it had failed to mention the movement corridor between the two sanctuaries.

Shocking article, just shows you, you must actually love animals and mustn’t be money driven as these pathetic people!

Inside Tiger Farming: A Long Chain of Profiteers

Swiss-born journalist and wildlife activist Karl Ammann has been investigating the illegal trade in wildlife products in Africa and Southeast Asia for 30 years. In this blog post, he discusses what he documented with hidden cameras while investigating the booming Asian trade in tiger parts. Ammann’s findings were aired on Spiegel Television in Germany and Carte Blanche in South Africa. His work is not edited by National Geographic and his opinions are his own, and not necessarily those of the National Geographic Society. Readers are invited to share their thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

During a recent documentary film shoot with a team from Spiegel TV in Germany we investigated aspects of tiger farming in Thailand and Laos before I travelled on to China and Myanmar. There I looked into not only aspects of tiger bone consumption and the trade in tiger derivatives but also the commerce involving live animals. I presented some of the findings to members of the diplomatic community in Vientiane, Laos PDR who had expressed interest in our inquiries, especially in the context of the U.S. State Department announcement of a reward concerning Vixay Keosavang and his continued involvement in the wildlife and lion/tiger bone trade which we documented during an earlier visit.

Information we received from a key tiger farm owner that they were now shipping live tigers on Laotian PDR Army helicopters (such as the one in the photo) to various locations was met with scepticism. So I checked out one of the locations mentioned: the new casino set up in the special economic zone on the Lao PDR side of the Golden Triangle. The animal keeper there showed me eight remaining tigers from the shipment mentioned by the tiger farm owners in the south. He informed me that except for one female (kept in a small breeding cage with a male) they had received only males. As a result they have now ordered eight more females which was supposed to arrive on March 10, 2014, in the same way the first group arrived. Presumably by Laotian Army helicopter!

It should be relatively easy to check out this information, which in turn would help with establishing credibility concerning some of the other key points concerning tiger trafficking which I will outline below. All this would be a complete and flagrant breach of the CITES “Tiger and other Asian Big Cat” provisions and presumably also national laws owing to the various promises made by the Tiger Range Countries under initiatives such as the Global Tiber Recovery Program.

CITES Decision 14.69 from the 14th Conference of the Parties to CITES in 2007 states that: All tigers and other Asian big cat species are included in CITES Appendix I which bans their international trade for commercial purposes. In addition, the CITES Secretariat has gone on record stating that it considers ‘trade’ for the purposes of Decision 14.69 as including domestic trade. This is not least because domestic trade has been shown to undermine the international ban, stimulate poaching and significantly threaten the continued existence of tigers in the wild.
Posted by Karl Ammann on April 15, 2014

Likan, a leopard died in the mini-zoo (deer park) of Sambalpur on Saturday at the age of 15 years.The zoo authorities said the wildcat died of old age after being ill for a few days.Wildlife enthusiasts, however, have complained that the zoo authorities did not provide a female partner to the wildcat and forced him to lead a life of celibacy till death.

“The zoo authority has clearly violated animal rights by holding a wildcat captive for long 15 years without providing a partner,” wildlife enthusiast Khirod Prasad Mishra of Sambalpur said.He said the wildlife authorities should order a probe to find out why Likan had been kept alone in violation of Indian wildlife protection laws.

Sources said section 38H of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 said no animal will be kept without a mate for a period exceeding one year unless there is a legitimate reason. In the event of a zoo failing to find a mate for an animal, the animal shall be shifted to some other place.

DFO (wildlife) of Hirakud Sudeep Nayak said the leopard had died of old age and the zoo authorities had cremated the animal’s body inside the zoo premises.He confessed to the violation of the wildlife rule by keeping the animal alone. “We did not move the leopard to another place because of the locals’ love for the animal. We did try to find him a female partner,” said Nayak.

However, he said that since he was new to the division, he could not say why the matter was not pursued more vigorously.Sources said, Nikon was rescued by than DFO (wildlife) Suresh Chandra Mishra from the clutches of a poacher and raised by him and his wife for about six months and it was the couple who gave a name to the big cat.

He was later shifted to the deer park of Sambalpur on 15th August 2000 and the country’s Independence Day was turned out to be the beginning of the caged-life of the leopard. Since then it was leading a lonely life in Deer park of Sambalpur.